


Fair Games

by kopycat_101



Series: Nathmarc November [26]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bisexual Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Boys In Love, Dorks, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gay Marc Anciel, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Other, Plushies, Romance, Slash, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27706151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kopycat_101/pseuds/kopycat_101
Summary: Nathaniel knows carnivals games are both games of chance, and incredibly rigged. But damn it, he was on a date with his boyfriend at the Fair, and he wanted to get his boyfriend a cute gift to commemorate said date.So the redhead narrowed his eyes, rolled up his sleeves, and decided that he was going to do it. He was winning Marc the cute sheep plushie in the stall, if it was the last thing he did.It doesn’t matter if the game was rigged. Nathaniel had a decent and steady hand. How hard could a game of darts be?
Relationships: Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel & Alix Kubdel, Marc Anciel & Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Series: Nathmarc November [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994782
Comments: 9
Kudos: 22





	Fair Games

**Author's Note:**

> For NathMarc November Day 26: Chance
> 
> The boys try to be good boyfriends to each other. We love to see it!

* * *

Nathaniel knows carnivals games are both games of chance, and incredibly rigged. But damn it, he was on a date with his boyfriend at the Fair, and he wanted to get his boyfriend a cute gift to commemorate said date.

So the redhead narrowed his eyes, rolled up his sleeves, and decided that he was going to do it. He was winning Marc the cute sheep plushie in the stall, if it was the last thing he did.

It doesn’t matter if the game was rigged. Nathaniel had a decent and steady hand. How hard could a game of darts be?

* * *

“N-Nath, are you sure—”

“Another one!” the redhead snarls, slamming a bill in front of the man running the stand. Said man looked both nervous and excited that Nathaniel hadn’t stopped yet. Probably nervous of Nathaniel getting Akumatized from this, and excited that he was winning so much money off of him.

“Maybe…Maybe I should try a round? S-so you can have a break,” Marc says, softly taking Nathaniel’s hand, emerald eyes wide and pleading. “You’re just getting more and more frustrated with each loss, and I don’t want to see you this stressed.”

The redhead finds his anger deflating, his heart now full with love and admiration for his sweet and kind boyfriend.

“I…Alright. How about you play these three rounds I paid for? Maybe you’re better at this game than me,” the artist acquiesces.

“It’s mostly about chance and luck, I think,” Marc says sheepishly, cheeks flushing an adorable pink. “B-But if you believe in me, maybe I can do it!”

Nathaniel finds himself giggling, so utterly fond of his adorable boyfriend. “Alright, go for it! You can do it, babe!”

* * *

Nathaniel gapes in surprise and awe as his boyfriend hits the target on the first try, right on the bullseye.

Marc picks up another dart, weighs it in his hand, pulls his arm back and closes one eye, and then throws.

Another bullseye.

The third throw? Another bullseye. All three were bullseyes.

“Th-that’s…” the stall owner says, eyes wide and looking like he was nervously sweating. “Th-that’s quite a lucky round, son! You just won a Tier 3 prize! W-Which would you like?”

Marc smiles brightly over at Nathaniel. “So? Which would you like?”

“Woah, wait—you’re the one that won the game, you should choose the prize!” Nathaniel says, waving his hands in front of himself.

“But I used your money for this round. Y-You should pick it, I might not win the next rounds you paid for…”

“Uh…Okay?” the redhead says weakly, his face warm. He looks at the prizes, and chooses a big black cat plushie. Marc loves black cats, so that would work. Plus, it looks cute and fluffy. “Th-that one, please.”

“Sure thing,” the stall owner says, taking a pole to hook the prize and bring it down, handing it over to Nathaniel. The short boy grapples with the massive plushie, barely able to prop his chin on its head. “You want your money back for the rest of the tries or—”

“Nathaniel, do you want your money back? Or can I keep playing?” Marc asks sweetly, batting his pretty emerald eyes at Nathaniel. “I’ll pay you the bill back after we’re done, if you’d like?”

“Y-Yeah, no, you can—you can keep going, if you want,” the artist says shyly, hugging the plushie tight, heart tripping in his chest.

“Alright!” the writer chirps, turning back to the stall owner with a sweet smile. “Two more rounds then, mister!”

“Uh, sure, yes, of course,” the man says awkwardly, going to pull the darts out from before and re-arranging the board. He hands Marc a new set of darts, these colored blue instead of the red ones from before. “Here you are, round two.”

“Thank you,” Marc says politely, picking up one of the darts and bringing it up to inspect. He throws it up a bit in his palm, then adjusts it in his hand, sticking his tongue out and closing an eye while getting in a thrower’s stance.

Three more bullseyes.

“Another Tier 3 prize!” the stall owner announces, eyes flickering between Marc and the board. “Uh…Wh-what prize would you like?”

“Nath? Which one?” Marc asks, turning to give him a soft smile.

The redhead’s face is warm as he quickly darts his eyes up to the prizes.

“U-Uh…the ladybug plushie?”

Yes, good. A great thing to pair with the black cat. Like Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The stall owner hooks the plushie, and presents it to Marc. “Here you are, now lemme get you your change—”

“Oh, but I still have one round left, mister,” Marc says sweetly, with a wide smile, and oh. Nathaniel knows what he’s doing, now.

He’s trying to clean out the man’s stock of his best prizes. Once the biggest plushies are gone, less people will be interested to attend the stall and try for the hardest prizes.

Oooooh, that is _diabolical_. He loves it. And wouldn’t have thought his boyfriend would think of it.

“Here, I’ll try and hold both of ‘em. You can get the last round,” Nathaniel offers with a wide grin.

“Thank you, dear,” Marc tells him softly, but his emerald eyes twinkle mischievously.

* * *

The boys leave the darts stall, having taken all the good plushies. The ginormous ladybug, black cat, and rabbit.

Marc was carrying both the ladybug and black cat, one under each arm, while Nathaniel carried the rabbit in his arms, still barely able to prop his chin on its head. These plush animals were _ginormous_.

“I’m not even sure where you’ll find the room to put all these,” the dark-haired boy laughs, waddling just a bit while trying to carry both jumbo plushies in his arms.

“Me? I tried winning that stall so _you_ could have a prize for our date!” the redhead finds himself laughing.

The writer gapes back at him. “What? But—But I won these so _you_ could have a prize for our date!”

“Guess we both had the same idea, huh?” Nathaniel laughs, his boyfriend laughing along with him. “Also! Marc, I didn’t know you were that good at playing darts…!”

“O-Oh, um. Yeah. My Mom taught me,” Marc smiles, with a bashful grin. “She has a dartboard in her office, too. She tapes up pictures of homophobes on it and goes ham.”

“Dude, that is _so_ badass.”

“It really is,” Marc laughs brightly. All Nathaniel can do in response is stare lovingly at his boyfriend, at the joy he shows, completely entranced and lovestruck. “Um, okay, how about a compromise? You pick two plushies to keep.”

“Nuh uh, you put your kickass darts abilities to the test to win these. _You_ choose two plushies to keep,” Nathaniel huffs back.

The two pause in their walk, frowning at each other. And then seemingly at the same time, they looked down at the rabbit in Nathaniel’s arms, the realization hitting them.

* * *

“Uhhhh, what’s this for?” Alix asks them, bewildered, as they present her with the ginormous rabbit plushie together when she comes to Nathaniel’s house to hang out.

“We won it at the Fair—”

“ _Marc_ won it at the Fair—”

“Shush, _we_ won it at the Fair—”

“And we decided to give it to you. To make things equal.”

“We couldn’t decide which one should keep two of the three prizes,” Marc says, with a sheepish little smile. “And, well…”

“You’re our best friend, so it’s only right you get one too,” Nathaniel ends, with a nod.

Alix just stares back at them, her blue eyes wide and going soft and shiny, before she ducks her head and grabs the rabbit from their arms.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to,” she says curtly, before burying her face into the plushie’s furry head. The thing was nearly Alix’s size, so she looked even younger like this, hugging it to her chest and snuggling her face in it.

The boyfriends grin at one another, feeling happy and accomplished with their decision.

“Fucking saps,” Alix grumbles after a few seconds, setting the rabbit aside, before jumping forwards and bringing them both into a tight hug. “Ugh. You’re both too sweet when you’re together. It’s bullshit. Gonna give me cavities.””

“You’re very much welcome, Alix,” Marc laughs warmly.

“Love you too, Al,” Nathaniel snorts, cuddling into his boyfriend and best friend.

Sometimes, life wasn’t fair. But there was always a chance to make things even.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! Alixnathmarc friendship rights, baby!!!
> 
> Also, I love me the idea of Marc's Mom being badass and teaching her kid all these things, like how to properly throw darts, and how to use a knife for self defense. We Stan a queen.


End file.
